"Singer, composer,
arranger, choir director and band leader, Daymé Arocena at 22 years, is a
skilful, charismatic presence in Cuban music. Her diverse musical talents
will take her fast into broader territories. She sings the chants and song
repertoires but also, absorbs music of any kind, particularly jazz and
Cuban neo-soul."
--
www.gillespetersonworldwide.com/artist/dayme-arocena, 2014

Cuban millennial Daymé Arocena bends musical traditions 6/14/2017 Boston
Globe: "Arocena’s 2015 debut album, “Nueva Era,” was an original
statement: Afro-Cuban roots music transposed into the kind of
sophisticated, future-soul frame for which Peterson is known. Her
follow-up album, this year’s “Cubafonía,” is in a sense the return
journey. It finds Arocena digging into the many rhythms and genres of the
Cuban canon with a traditionalist’s archival instinct, yet interspersing
the rumba, guajira, and changüí tracks with loping jazz tunes and some
languorous Latin-soul ballads."

Daymé Arocena - Cubafonía 3/16/2017 Pitchfork: "As an initiate of
santería, the Havana-born jazz singer is in tune with her religious and
musical practices, as Cubafonía illuminates, pulling from genres within
and adjacent to Cuban popular music."

Review: Daymé Arocena, 'Cubafonía' 3/2/2017 NPR: "There is something
going on in Cuba that is, quite simply, raising the bar on music of all
kinds. An incredibly talented and visionary group of Cuban millennials are
reimagining their African roots through a lens that filters, jazz, soul
and funk. And Daymé Arocena is literally giving voice to this movement."

Meet Daymé Arocena: Cuba’s Jazz Phenomenon Fusing Salsa, Hip-Hop And Neo-Soul 6/16/2017 Vibe: "Daymé
Arocena is a singing drum. Her mouth blooms a litany of ethereal chants, a
sacred devotion as impeccable as her white assembles against her molasses
skin—traditional garb in the Afro-Cuban religion of Santeria. She moves in the
world the way she moves on any stage: swaying hips and wagging fingers, building
a quiet momentum that emerges a thunderclap woman, who carries both Celia Cruz
and Aretha Franklin in her heart."

Cuban millennial Daymé Arocena bends musical traditions 6/14/2017 Boston
Globe: "Arocena’s 2015 debut album, “Nueva Era,” was an original statement:
Afro-Cuban roots music transposed into the kind of sophisticated, future-soul
frame for which Peterson is known. Her follow-up album, this year’s “Cubafonía,”
is in a sense the return journey. It finds Arocena digging into the many rhythms
and genres of the Cuban canon with a traditionalist’s archival instinct, yet
interspersing the rumba, guajira, and changüí tracks with loping jazz tunes and
some languorous Latin-soul ballads."

SXSW 2016: 10 Latin Artists to See 3/9/2016 Billboard: "1. Daymé Arocena
brings the great tradition of Afro-Cuban jazz vocals to the present with deep
and smoky vocals that can flow seamlessly over ritual percussion, R&B melodies,
and electronic beats."

Daymé Arocena review – impressive Cuban scat and balladry 12/1/2015 The
Guardian: "Barefoot and dressed in white, she began her set with one of the most
inventive and furious displays of scat singing I can remember. Yelping and
growling noises were mixed with fine soulful vocals and percussive effects
achieved by hitting shakers, cowbells or her own body as she launched into a
furious praise song for the deities of the Santeria faith. She was backed by a
four-piece band, with two percussionists and bass, driven on by the British jazz
pianist Robert Mitchell, whose earlier excursions into Cuban fusion have
involved work with Omar Puente."

INTRODUCING Daymé Arocena 7/22/2015 Ebony: "Unplug from your busy day with
the smooth, jazzy stylings of Cuban singer Daymé Arocena. Her new video, “Don’t
Unplug My Body,” is a visual treat of liquefying colors and the beautiful
Arocena scatting and gracefully sashaying in all white. The 22-year-old
vocalist/arranger is the latest signee to London DJ Gilles Peterson’s venerable
Brownswood Recordings—a soulful talent already popular in Cuba, whom Peterson
encountered while on one of his many trips to pre-American embargo-lifted Cuba.
Working with Arocena on his Havana Cultura project to develop and connect
promising Afro-Cuban artists with an international phalanx of music-makers led
to Peterson releasing her debut album, Nueva Era, in June."

Daymé Arocena: Nueva Era review – a new rich and powerful voice from Cuba 6/11/2015 The
Guardian: "At 22, Daymé Arocena has all the makings of being the next major
Cuban star – if her songs are as distinctive as her rich and powerful voice.
She’s a follower of the Afro-Cuban Santería faith, and her best material echoes
the African-influenced religious chanting she has known since childhood. The
opening Madres starts with the twanging of a thumb piano, then a thumping bass
line and a dash of funk organ as she launches into the slinky anthem, backed by
her own multi-tracked vocals – a technique that also works well on the soulful
title track."

Havana's Daymé Arocena Bridges Gap Between Cuban & American Music 4/2/2015 Billboard: "On
her cover of the classic “Cry Me A River” (not the Justin Timberlake track), the
22-year-old from Havana sings to a ritualistic rumba beat, her voice pouring
liquid over hectic conga beats before breaking out in soulful celebration of the
storied perfect combination of Cuban music and jazz. While U.S. and Cuban
politicians currently struggle to find common ground, Arocena’s big voice finds
harmony in the two countries’ shared musical history."

Cuban Jazz Artist
Tonatiut Isidron Live 3/21/2015 Havana Times: "After performing next to
musicians of the stature of Wynton Marsalis, Roy Hargrove, Horacio Hernandez,
Orlando Sanchez and Marcos Printup, Tonatiut Isidron recently offered his first
concert at Cuba’s National Fine Arts Museum. Scenes from the film Cinema
Paradiso were projected as he played his version of Ennio Morricone’s piece for
the movie. A 2008 graduate from Cuba’s Amadeo Roldan Conservatory (where he
majored in trumpet playing), the young composer and performer treated us to his
music and charm, next to two guests: the charismatic Dayme Arozena and Jorge
Felix, two artists with powerful and melodious voices."

Cuba-infused
Women’s Jazz at Canadian Festival 8/7/2014 Havana Times: "Those women are
highly talented musicians hailing from various parts of Cuba, brought together
with the assistance of singer/composer Daymé Arocena. As the story goes, Jane
was at a jazz festival in Cuba, heard her sing and was blown away. The wheels
started turning and, before long, they were working together to assemble the
ensemble that became Maqueque."

March 21 Opening Night, Afro-Latino Festival: Cubana DJanes BJoyce, who will be spinning
the new sounds of Cuba. She is one of the first female DJanes /
Producers in the Electronic Music scene in Cuba.

The Afro-Latino Festival of New York (www.afrolatinofestnyc.com) is
pleased to announce the dates for the 2016 Festival which will take
place July 8-10, 2016. This year the Festival will expand the
AfrolatinTalks to a full day symposium and increase the number of film
screenings focused on the Afrolatin@ and Afrodescendant communities of
Latin America, the Caribbean and ‎the United States.

We will be hosting a number of pre-Festival events to raise money for
production costs and to build momentum and excitement for July. Our
first event in collaboration with Subrosa NYC will present for the first
time in New York City, sensational Cuban singer, composer, arranger, and
band director, Daymé Arocena. Hailing from the Havana Cultura family
(Ibeyi, Los Van Van, Gente de Zona, Danay Suaréz) and recently signed to
Gilles Petersen's Brownwood Recordings, Arocena seemlessly blends jazz
and neo-soul with Afro-Cuban musical traditions. This exclusive 3-night
engagement takes place Monday March 21-23, 2016 at Subrosa NYC 63
Gansevoort St. New York, NY 10014. Each evening Daymé Arocena will
perform two sets at 8 and 10pm (Doors open at 7 and 9:30pm
respectively). Proceeds from this event will go towards production costs
for the 2016 Festival.

Read the amazing reviews of Daymé Arocena's EP, Nueva Era (2015):

NPR: "With a voice that is a rich as the deep Cuban mahogany called
cahoba, she is steeped in the Afro-Cuban Santeria tradition and she
sings with a combination of a jazz sensibility and African-American
gospel fervor. The result is an album full of material that basically
redefines what you might think of as Cuban music.

BILLBOARD: "Her voice pouring liquid over hectic conga beats before
breaking out in soulful celebration of the storied perfect combination
of Cuban music and jazz. While U.S. and Cuban politicians currently
struggle to find common ground, Arocena's big voice finds harmony in the
two countries' shared musical history. (…) Arocena (…) seems ready to
join the ranks of commanding female artists often described as global
divas."

THE GUARDIAN: "At 22, Daymé Arocena has all the makings of being the
next major Cuban star".

THE AFRO-LATINO FESTIVAL OF NEW YORK:

The Festival of N.Y. celebrates the contributions of Afrolatin@s through
networking, cultural exchange, artistic showcases, culinary
presentations, and education. It serves as an important opportunity for
organizations working within Afrolatin@ communities to raise social
awareness and highlight their work. Our mission is to present a positive
live event that celebrates the diversity of the black and Latin@
experience. Each year the ‎Festival commemorates the International
Decade for People of African Descent declared by the U.N (2015-2024) and
its principles of "justice", "recognition" and "development".

SUBROSA NYC:

An eclectic listening room dedicated to showcasing music, art, and
culture. Located in New York's Meatpacking District, with live music
nightly, the venue's focus is to provide a unique creative hub for the
finest artists in Latin & World Music disciplines and beyond - in an
intimate environment for musicians and fans alike.